From Paradise to the Geek Prom

July is here, and that means Comic-Con 2011 is less than three weeks away. This year, my wife and I will be bringing our entire family (three kids and their grandmother) to San Diego. We are always excited to attend, but this will definitely be one to remember. While I will be immersed in the convention, as always, and will be joined much of the time by our “Glee”-obsessed daughter, I think my mom, wife, and kids will spend most of this trip out and about in San Diego, seeing the sights in what is perhaps our second favorite city on Earth.

This blog has not been updated for a while, but I thought I’d stop in today to post a little guide to where you can find some of the things I’ve posted, and will post, about the “geek prom.”

This year, I will be wearing my “Popspotting” hat. “Popspotting” is the new, daily pop-culture podcast my wife and I officially launched a couple of months ago, covering movies, television, music, and just about everything else. In fact, Comic-Con is one of the main reasons we launched the show. The convention is described as “a celebration of the popular arts,” and that’s certainly something we love celebrating.

Even before our launch, we posted the audio from a few Comic-Con panels last year, and I plan to do the same this time. We may also find the time to interview interesting people or report on pop culture news. I invite you to subscribe to our show in iTunes, or keep an eye on our blog, Twitter account, and Facebook page for updates.

I’m also happy to announce that I’ll be blogging about Comic-Con for the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, the largest daily newspaper and news site in the state of Hawaii. Look for my posts among the many great blogs on the site.

If you can’t wait for July 20, you can always relive the last few Comic-Cons. You can check out my blog posts for Comic-Con 2008, and my considerably less verbose posts from Comic-Con 2009. Last year, I didn’t write here at all, but you can check out the 200 or so photos I posted on Flickr, as well as the “Popspotting” shows linked above.

Jen and Ryan cover the first full day of Comic-Con 2009. A visit to the “LOST” auction booth on the expo floor, then four consecutive panels in Ballroom 20: Entertainment Weekly’s “Wonder Women” (Elizabeth Mitchell, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana and Eliza Dushku), Burn Notice, Psych, and Dexter. Then, “Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog”!

Jen and Ryan recount their first day in San Diego for Comic-Con, including “Preview Night” presentations of “V” (starring Elizabeth Mitchell) and “The Vampire Diaries” (starring Ian Somerhalder). Also, the limited edition Ben Linus bobblehead doll, Hash House A Go Go, In-and-Out Burger, and connecting with other “LOST” fans, bloggers, and podcasters.

About

This blog documents one geek’s journey from Hawaii to San Diego for Comic-Con, dubbed by some as the “Geek Prom.”

My name is Ryan, and my wife Jen and I are “LOST” fans and podcasters who have been drawn back into the massive vortex that is Comic-Con. Our first Comic-Con, in 2008, was also the first time we traveled out-of-state without our three beautiful kids. (Thank heaven for grandmothers.) We had a blast. This year, perhaps our last year, we look forward to seeing familiar faces among the new, and again reveling in both “LOST” fandom and the general mayhem of pop culture.

I plan to be posting updates all over the web, but I figured I should set up one centralized place to collect my thoughts… scattered though they may inevitably be. Check out the “Elsewhere” links in the sidebar to find my profiles and updates on other web services.